Etymologies

Examples

With enough air shooting up and down, the pinwheel is knocked on its side, creating a huge rotating mass of clouds called a mesocyclone - the hallmark of a tornado-spawning supercell storm - from which a funnel cloud can shoot down.

The rotating updraft of a supercell (called a mesocyclone when visible on radar helps the supercell to produce extreme severe weather events, such as giant hail (more than 2 inches in diameter, strong downbursts of 80 miles an hour or more, and strong to violent tornadoes.